A New Current
by PleasedAsPunch
Summary: Sequel to Ebb and Flow, about two or three years after the last ended.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I had the idea to do this as soon as I finished the last one. I was bored so I decided to start writing it. I'm not sure how often I'll update, but once I start a story, I usually write pretty frequently. I'm not entirely sure where exactly this story is going to go, but I have a general idea. I realize it's sort of silly, but it's meant to be light and enjoyable. Hopefully it is! Reviews appreciated.**

**I don't own Doctor Who.**

_**A New Current**_

_Chapter 1: Unexpectedly Expected _

The Doctor snored loudly and he nuzzled his head further into Rose's chest, which for her was proving a bit painful.

"Doctor," she whispered sweetly. She tried to pull away a bit to relieve some of the pressure. "Doctor," she repeated. "Love, please move. You're hurting a bit."

He only reacted by unconsciously pulling himself even closer and tighter, and sighed sleepily into her skin.

She leaned back, exasperated and now quite awake. This meant _war_.

She grabbed the sullied and twisted sheet that draped around their bodies and heaved it off of them, exposing both of their bodies to the comparatively cool air of their bedroom.

The Doctor jolted up, feeling the cold air against his legs and torso, and he rubbed his eyes.

"Oi! What was that for?" Seeing what his wife had done, he leaned back onto the head board, and she leaned into his shoulder, cradling herself there.

"You were hurting my boob."

"Your _boob_?" He said it like it was a dirty word. "As in, just one, not both? I was hurting _one_ of your boobs? How, may I ask, was I hurting one of your _boobs_?"

"Fine, _breast_. You were hurting my _breast_. And I don't know, you kind of just cuddled so forcefully into it that it hurt."

"But I do that _all_ the time. They're my favorite; perfect, you know."

"This time…I don't know. It just kind of hurt. It felt a bit tender. We can stop talking about my aching chest now, if you'd like, and you can go back to sleep. You looked quite adorable. Very enamored."

"I'm always enamored when I'm with you. Which is all the time. So I'm always enamored."

"Be careful, Doctor, if you keep saying that then I might think you love me or something like that." She smirked at him cheekily.

"I do. I love you forever. Even when you give me grief for cuddling too aggressively."

He kissed the top of her head softly, inhaling the scent of her hair.

"I'll never get tired of saying it, you know. I love you. I love Rose Tyler!" he yelled.

"Shh!"

"Who's there to hear us? No one. Maybe the TARDIS, but she knows all our secrets. Anyway, I'd yell the same thing in the middle of a busy London street, just to see you blush. Plus, you know you love it."

"No," she replied, looking serious, "I love _you_."

"Well, I guess I'll have to settle for that. Such a poor, unfortunate life I lead."

While he said this she wrenched her leg over his, straddling his lap and looked at him very intently.

"So unfortunate, Doctor?" She teased with a wry smile. "Even when I do this?"

She moved in and kissed him deeply, weaving her fingers into his hair, which made him moan softly into her mouth. He liked it when she did that.

"Oh yes," he muttered, lips still locked with Rose's. "Oh, yes, very, very unfortunate."

"When I do this?" She deepened her kiss even more and her hands unlocked themselves from his hair and began trailing lightly down his chest.

"Uh…yuh—very. Yes. I think."

"Hmm," she hummed into him. "What about when I do this?"

She leaned forward more and pressed him down onto the bed. Her head hovered above his and her hair tickled his ears. He was breathing laboriously.

"Excited, are we?" she quipped. But no sooner had she said this than she sprang off the bed and darted into the bathroom, becoming sick as soon as she reached the toilet.

When she leaned up from her retching, the Doctor, crouching next to her, handed her a towel and stroked her hair.

"Rose, are you okay?" She was obviously not okay, he thought. He looked at her nervously.

"Yeah, actually. I feel completely okay. Great, even. Now where were we?"

"I don't think so, Rose. Go get back in bed, I want to run a few scans. Plus…you have vomit in your hair. I didn't get here fast enough to prevent it."

"I feel fine!"

"That's lovely. I'm happy for you. But I'm still running some scans. Let me just grab the Sonic out from the night stand. Rose, I said get back in bed." She was trying to tangle herself into him before he could leave the room.

She trudged grumpily back to the bed and sat on top of the disheveled covers, waiting less than patiently as the Doctor waved the Sonic over her form.

"Don't be a child, Rose. I'm just trying to find out why you got sick mid-seduction."

"Seduction? You were already seduced long ago, Doctor. Admit it. I was simply…reprising said seduction."

"Fine, fine." He paused for a minute and pressed a few small buttons on the side of the Sonic. "Rose…how long have you been feeling like this?"

"I dunno. I couple days? I haven't actually gotten sick or anything before just now, though."

The Doctor's face became suddenly white and chalky looking, which was impressive, as he had two hearts to keep his blood pumping constantly and vigorously.

"Doctor, what's wrong?" She had a distinct edge in her voice.

"Nothing…I don't think. I'll have to run more tests. I didn't…I didn't even know if this would be possible. Apparently I was wrong. Wouldn't be the first time, I suppose." He pushed the bridge of his glasses to his nose, which she had just noticed he was wearing, and continued to study his Sonic.

"What's _wrong_?" she insisted.

"Rose. Rose… you're…pregnant."


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own Doctor Who**

_Chapter 2: Perfect_

"Oh. Well, yes. I suppose that explains a few things."

The Doctor looked at her incredulously. "You mean you aren't surprised?"

"Of course I am! Sort of. I'm just sayin' that it'd explain the boob thing from earlier and maybe also that my period is five days late."

"You were _that _late and you didn't even have a vague inkling that _maybe, possibly_ you might be pregnant?"

"S'not that…so much as I never really stopped to think about it. We don't have a whole lot of down time, what with you and I saving the Universe almost every other day, and when we aren't saving the Universe we do…other things. It's hardly my fault. You can't keep your hands off of me."

"It's nobody's fault," he said quickly. "That's not what I'm saying. I'm just…Rose…I didn't even know that this was possible. You're human and I'm Time Lord. I had no idea we would actually be compatible genetically."

He looked at her thoughtfully, as if he expected her to demand that he drop her off somewhere in London, that carrying a half-Time Lord child was one step too weird. But he knew he didn't actually think that, not totally. She had married him, after all, and she seemed quite pleased with the whole affair.

"D'you know what this means, Rose?" he continued.

"That you're going to be a _dad_. Oh, Doctor. You really will be a wonderful dad!" She smiled magnificently, so much so that it almost distracted him from what he was going to say next.

"Well, yes, that. But…it means so many things. For one it means you're going to be a _mum_. And your…our baby won't be completely human. Rose…it means there'll be another Time Lord, if only in part."

"Oh, Doctor. You won't have to be alone anymore."

"What do you mean, _alone_? Since I met you I've never been _alone_. I'm just saying that _you_, my wonderful, amazing, lovely, perfect Rose, are carrying on a lost race."

She realized the magnitude of his words. She, Rose Tyler from Powell Estates, South London, England, United Kingdom, Earth, Solar System, Milky Way; Rose Tyler, who worked in a shop, had no A-levels to speak of, and enjoyed violent shades of pink, was carrying a Time Lord child. And it scared the pants off of her. Surely, she thought, she wasn't worthy of such a task. It made her feel small, insignificant and fragile.

"I—I know…the baby," she whispered, "won't be entirely Time Lord. He'll…she'll be part human."

"Yes."

"And that's okay?"

"How do you mean?"

She sighed slightly. "I mean, that won't make her…him second rate or anything? Because it's part human?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Rose, I think this child will be _better_ for being half human. I think Time Lords could have used a little humanity in them. I have you, and I'm infinitely better for it. The rest of Gallifrey did not—have you, that is."

"It won't be weaker?"

"No weaker than you are. You might not be physically powerful, but you're one of the strongest people I know. Only Rose Tyler could have the strength to tame a Time Lord."

"You're hardly _tame_," she teased.

"Oi!"

"But that's why I love you." She smiled.

"Are you sure you're ready for this? For a baby? For _my_ baby? If he's anything like me, you might have a perpetual headache."

"Might be a she. And yes, I am more than okay with this. I'm absolutely thrilled. But how did this happen? You said you didn't think it was possible…"

"I don't know. I'm not worried, but I am curious. I'm sure we can figure it out after running a few tests."

"Are you happy, Doctor?" He was still sitting on the edge of the bed looking somewhat concerned. She reached up and stroked his temple gently, as if trying to smooth the troubled creases.

His eyes brightened and he looked at her with an intensity she only started to understand after they had been bonded years before.

"Rose, I need you to listen to me very carefully."

She nodded.

"I don't know if I've ever been happier." He made a wide, toothy grin. "The only moments that might rival this one are the time you agreed to marry me, our wedding, and…well, every time you tell me that you love me, because honestly, I'm still not entirely sure how I ended up deserving you. I mean, you're smart, and beautiful, and wickedly funny. Rose, don't you see? I get to have a child that's half _you_. I'm getting all of the things that I never dreamed I could ask for, and things that I never would have asked for or thought to ask for before I lost you, and then I realized that if I didn't ask them, if I didn't ask the Universe for you, then I wouldn't be able to live properly. And now that I have you, that the Universe has finally let me have something wonderful and happy in my life, I get to have _this _on top of all of it. So, yes, Rose Tyler, I am happy. I am ecstatic. The only thing I worried about is that it's all too good to be true, and I'll wake up in an empty TARDIS still looking for you and still alone."

Rose's eyes swam with tears as she wiped one of his from his cheek.

"It's _not_ too good to be true. I'm here. You know that. I'm here and I love you. And I am so glad that you are happy." She leaned forward and kissed him as she cradled his cheek in her hand, nuzzling his nose with her own. It was tender and sweet, warm and wet with tears and laughter. "We're having a _baby_, Doctor. I'd like to know your plans on baby-proofing the TARDIS. You're the only man who's never said 'no' to the impossible."

**A/N: No cliffhanger here, I thought it was a good beat to end on. Story's not over though! More to come! Reviews appreciated. **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I don't own Doctor Who.**

_Chapter 3: Interruption_

"You know how I know that you love me?" Rose asked while sitting in the console's main chair.

"How?" The Doctor said this absentmindedly as he fiddled with who knows what part of the TARDIS.

"Because when I waddled in here like a beached whale with tea and biscuits—which I still think _you_ should have gotten for us, considering you don't have the weight of a person growing inside of you—you still gave me that look that you make when I know you think I'm sexy."

He put down the Sonic Screwdriver, which had been whirring insistently below their conversation. "That's because you _are_ sexy."

"Doctor, I'm only six months pregnant and I almost look like I should be having twins. I make the Globe Theatre look like a linen closet."

"You're really quite perfect. I keep telling you that, and you keep not listening."

"I _am_ listening. You're just delusional."

"Maybe about some things, but not about you. Never about Rose Tyler." He came over to her side, scooped up a chocolate digestive from the tray, and shoved the entire thing into his mouth. He kissed her cheek with chocolate covered lips and she giggled in such a way that would put a ten-year-old school girl to shame. She weaved her fingers into his and they stood facing each other, leaning closer.

The Doctor made a loud sound as he gulped down the biscuit.

"_Very_ romantic, Doctor." She stood on her toes and pecked him on the lips, her large stomach preventing her from lingering too long. But as she did this, he put his hands on the small of her back and gripped her firmly and gently against him, reaching out clumsily with his lips to reclaim hers. He kissed her deeply and genuinely. He smelled like electricity and the coral of the TARDIS and it made her relax into him as he continued to kiss her.

"Mmm," she hummed. "I love it when you do that."

"Do what? This?" He kissed her again.

"Well, yes, that, but also when you kiss me unexpectedly. Like now. You're quite good at it."

"I do have some pretty good moves-"

The TARDIS lurched suddenly, throwing them apart, Rose into the console chair and the Doctor onto the floor.

"Doctor, what's happening?" Her voiced was panicked.

"I'm not sure. I think we're being pulled somewhere. Blimey, this hasn't happened in a while…I don't think this is going to be anything good."

"Steer it away! We can't afford a dangerous adventure right now!"

"I'm trying, I can't!" He was frantically pulling levers and pressing buttons, trying without success to pull them off of their careening path. With another sudden lurch, the TARDIS became still. Before he had a chance to recalibrate and return them to the Time Vortex, there was an enormous booming noise from outside that shook the TARDIS in its entirety.

"Doctor, please, don't open the door. Where are we? Do you know?"

"We are the Banlux. We come for the Doctor. Surrender yourself, Doctor, and be assimilated into the Banluces or feel the full force of the Banlux Empire," said a loud voice from beyond the call box.

"Who are the Banlux?" Rose asked, looking at the Doctor who was still whizzing around the console.

"They're a belligerent race, but deeply unoriginal. They assimilate other life forms into their own race and gain all of the strengths of that life form. They aren't aggressive in order to conquer in the material human understanding, so much as they purely function on the goal of attaining as many new and superior life forms to add to their collective race. A Time Lord would be a very…favorable acquisition for them. Rose, they are extremely dangerous. They think I'm the only one in here. Rose…"

"If they find out about the baby…"

The Doctor shuddered. She hand never actually seen him have such a physical reaction to fear before. She had always assumed he had experienced fear, even when he put on the brave face of a Time Lord, but she had never seen him react so acutely. It frightened her.

"I have to go, Rose. I have to go with them. I can get away, I'm sure of it, but I have to let them take me, or they'll think I'm trying to protect something, which I am. They're very clever, you see, even if they _are _unoriginal. You'll need to hide in here, Rose, love. Go as far back as you can within the TARDIS without getting lost. The TARDIS will hide you well. They'll search her, the Banlux will."

Rose stood silently, barely hearing his words. It was all happening so fast that she had barely processed that they were in any real kind of danger. Their lives had been so peaceful for the last few months. And now it wasn't just her life she was putting at risk…now she had the responsibility of another life, completely helpless inside of her.

"…take this, Rose," he continued, handing her a Sonic Screwdriver. "It might come in handy. I'll be back. It just might be a couple of days."

She wrenched herself out of the muffled numbness. "What if you don't?"

"I will."

"But-"

"Then you know how to drive this thing pretty well," he said, cutting across her. "Get out of here. Go wherever you have to go. Get somewhere safe. But I will get out. I always do. I have, as I've said before, some pretty good moves." He smiled at her with difficulty but tried to convey as much charisma as he could muster.

"Exit your craft, Doctor, or we shall force you out!" cried the voice again.

"I'll be fine. A little charm, a bit of deception. All in a day's work. Nothing I can't handle. I have to go. I love you."

Before she could protest, he grabbed his pinstriped jacket and slipped out the door, barely opening it enough to slip his thin body through.

Her brain kicked in before a fresh wave of panic had time to swell.

_Hide_, he had said. Hide she would. Low level terror coursed through her body, causing her to move. She hurried back into the bowels of the TARDIS, the ship helping her into well lit areas. Even though she was not familiar with where she was headed, she didn't feel lost, and somehow she knew the TARDIS wouldn't let her encounter anything dangerous. Finally, finding a small room with old, dusty looking red carpet and a rather decrepit looking metal dog, she turned on the light and wrapped herself in a comforter she grabbed from her room on her way.

For now, she intended to do what the Doctor told her to do. For now she was going to stay in the TARDIS and stay safe. For now, at least, she was going to wait.

**A/N: Cliffhanger! More soon. Reviews appreciated. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I don't own Doctor Who**

_Chapter 4: Slipping_

Well, that quite thoroughly had not gone as he had planned it. Not that he had much in the way of a specific plan. He'd planned on charming his way out of the whole situation, at worst maybe having to make something explode.

But instead, he was locked in a rather tricky sort of cell, and, to make matters worse, they'd managed to find and confiscate his Sonic Screwdriver. That's when he really, actually started to worry. They'd been cleverer than he originally thought…people rarely managed to get a hold of his Sonic Screwdriver.

He tried to shed these thoughts. Yes, they were clever. But also, he was cleverer. Much more. He was going to get out of this; it was just a matter of time, something of which he knew he didn't have much. If this species was anything, it was efficient.

His hearts were pounding and he focused one side of his mind on working to get out of his little fix. His head was spinning. He'd already been locked away for a full day. If he didn't get out soon, he didn't know what Rose would do. Probably something reckless, like try and save him. If Rose was in his position, _Rassilon forbid_, he thought, he'd do the same and save her. Normally he would be okay with Rose rescuing him. She could take care of herself; she more than proved herself capable of that on multiple occasions. But this time their child was in the mix, and that terrified him.

The other half of his mind thought only of Rose and their baby. From the first test he ran, he knew it was strong. Rose positively glowed when he told her the baby was progressing well. He remembered how her cheeks flushed and how he couldn't help but lean across the monitors and kiss just about every inch of her body.

In another time, when he was a different man, he had been a sort of father. Even before Jenny, he'd given genetic material before, but actually willingly. But _this_ child was going to be a product of intense love. This wasn't the requisite genetic transfer that most Gallifreyans partook in to sustain the race. This was a child that was really half him and half Rose, conceived in love and a passion that bordered on reckless abandon.

Rose hadn't let him go as far as to discover the sex of the child. She wanted it to be a surprise. The Doctor had protested, claiming it would be much easier to prepare a nursery if they were to know if it was going to be a boy or girl, but Rose insisted. He loved that she was so stubborn, and then too, when her cheeks flushed in frustration at the Doctor's initial persistence on the subject, he kissed her. She had surprised him by taking his head in both of her hands and wrapping her legs around his back. She had seriously usurped that particular kiss, and he didn't mind a bit.

He thought of the moment when he first discovered that Rose was pregnant, and how every neuron in his brain tried to deny it, not because he didn't want it, but because he thought it was impossible.

But when Rose had taken the news with such little surprise, it dawned on him that regardless of whether or not it was scientifically or genetically impossible, it was what was really natural and inevitable for them. Why should genetic compatibility matter to something that tasted vaguely like fate? Perhaps it was not fate. He had issues with the idea of fate…perhaps what he was tasting—what they were tasting—was the most compelling possibility for them. They may not have been fated to have a child, but in discovering Rose's pregnancy, they clung to that possibility as if it were the only one all along, that this was how they chose to write their lives.

Darkness fell over his thoughts. What if he didn't make it out of this? What if the Banlux succeeded? He was the Doctor, he wasn't omnipotent. They could hurt him

What if he never saw Rose again? What if he never saw their child? A fresh wave of panic overtook him. Knowing Rose was pregnant, that they were going to have a child to care for, made him feel acutely aware of his own mortality, even if his and Rose's version of it was considerably longer that what was considered average.

He found himself unable to wrench himself from his cell, where he had been secured by both his wrists and ankles onto what was essentially a slab straight out of a wildly misconstrued Frankenstein flick. He growled, his lips tearing about wildly. This is what it felt like to be helpless. He didn't have Rose by his side to help him or any friends around to speak of.

A growing metallic sound made its way down the corridor of the place where he was being held, wherever that was. He guessed it was underground, because he could make out no source of natural light.

In the darkness, somebody opened the cell door. A Banlux walked in, his metal soled shoes clicking against the hard ground.

"Do not be frightened, Doctor, there is no pain. But then, you probably aren't afraid of pain, are you? No, you are much too old and clever to fear pain. That is why we must assimilate you, Doctor. You will be a most excellent asset. You will make the Banlux even stronger, even more resilient."

The Doctor remained silent; the Banlux's words did not deserve a response.

"We have deprived you of your sight in this darkness. We have done this on purpose. When you see again, you will see as a Banlux sees. You will be one of us. But first we must monitor you vitals. It is said that Time Lords have two hearts. Is this true?"

The Doctor felt circular pads being placed all over his chest and head. He heard a machine ping.

"Ah, yes, it seems it is true. That is indeed very interesting. But what I have also wondered, Doctor, is if either of these two hearts has the ability to feel, or if they are as cold and blank as they are in the legends of the ancient Time Lords. Your people have all died off, I believe. That must be a terrible loss for you. Alone without a single being to attach yourself. No identity. Fear not, Doctor. When you become one of the Banlux, you will never be alone. We can heal your emptiness, Doctor. As a Banlux you will have a people. If your hard Time Lord heart will soften itself, perhaps you may one day feel our version of love."

The Doctor felt a pressure on his mind.

_Yes_, it told him, _when you are a Banlux, you will have a people again. You will have a people, and you will love_.

He struggled to fight it off, but it was exhausting. The pressure on his mind was making him forget things. _He already loved something_, he thought, _but what is it? Why couldn't he think of it? He loves something passionately. No, he loves two things passionately…what are they? Why couldn't he think of them?_

_ No, he was a Time Lord. He had nothing to love. His people were dead. There was nothing left for him. He was alone. He had nothing. But the Banlux, yes, they had something to offer if he could only be one of them. He could be a part of something again. He could feel something other than depletion again._

_ But wait, _he thought, _he was quite sure he had loved something before. At one time before. Maybe it was just in a brief moment._

"Do you feel it, Doctor?"

_Who was this man and why was he calling him "Doctor"? He was a Banlux, not a Doctor._

_ Had he loved something before?_

It was nagging at his mind. The word confused him. "Love"…it felt familiar. The concept felt close and intimate like an errant thought once close and suddenly forgotten. His body was growing cold and his hearts felt like they were slowing slightly.

What was it that he loved? His mind groped blindly in the darkness of his consciousness. All he could feel was Banlux. He was Banlux. But still, he felt a pulsating part of himself, wrapped in the corner of his mind. It felt. It was very specific and very much alive. That part of him was meant for someone else, because it belonged to someone else. Who did it belong to? His mind was losing its grip on the object in his mind. He couldn't concentrate. It pulsated less and less. He was slipping.

**A/N: Reviews appreciated! Thanks for reading.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I don't own Doctor Who**

_Chapter 5: Quickly_

There was an enormous crash and the ceiling of the cell exploded into nothing more than dust. A large blue box appeared in the middle of the room, the light from the materialization illuminating the Banlux, the Doctor, and the wall of machinery that worked silently in the dark.

He heard the screeching humming noise that the box produced and knew the sound was familiar. Where had he heard it before? He knew that sound and this strange looking box somehow.

The Banlux was no longer moving, but lying unconscious with his left leg pinned by the box. He heard a bumping sound on the door, as if someone was trying to get through with repeated failure. Finally, a figure burst out of the box, the orange glow behind her illuminating her frazzled blonde hair almost like halo.

The woman was beautiful, he thought. She was pink and yellow and she had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. The look of determination in her face startled him but made him feel safe and invincible, but he wasn't quite sure why. Surely he had never seen this woman in his life, unless he had, because she _did_ seem sort of familiar.

Yes, he definitely recognized her from somewhere. As he continued to look at her, he noticed that her stomach was round in the extreme. Clearly she was extremely pregnant, but something told him she wasn't quite ready to pop yet. It was as if he was attuned to the woman's body; like he knew its dynamics and vitals. He could feel her heart pounding in her chest like it was his own…and another heart beat…but there were two that beat alternately inside of her.

Like his did. Wait, he was a Banlux. Why did he have two hearts? That made no sense. Most Banlux had one, _they have never assimilated a being with two hearts before_, something in his mind told him. His hearts slammed in his ribcage. Something was wrong. His mind told him he was Banlux, but his body told him he was something else entirely.

The woman stepped down awkwardly out of the box, and proceeded at a waddle over to him.

"Doctor, I know you told me to wait two days, but that was ridiculous, really. How did you really expect me to wait? Shh!" she insisted when he attempted to speak to her. "I don't need your gob running off right now. You'll get us caught. We don't have much time. I'm pretty damn sure they heard the ceiling explode."

The woman extracted a silver device a bit longer than a pen with a blue sort of light thing at the end. She pointed it at his fetters and they popped open one at a time.

"Honestly, Doctor. You should be glad I love you so much. Six months pregnant and I have to come and _rescue_ you." She pulled him to his feet and he stood up, looking disoriented. Apparently this woman _loved_ him, which he thought was odd, because he was pretty sure he didn't even know her name. Pretty sure. Maybe he'd think of it in a moment. Plus, he was a Time Lord, and there was nothing he could have done to deserve this woman.

Wait, a Time Lord? No, he was Banlux.

No. Time Lord. Right? What was a Time Lord?

She grabbed his wrist roughly and pushed him into the blue box. Something told him that he shouldn't resist, that this was the right thing to do. As soon as they were both inside the blue box, the woman took off as fast as she could to what looked like a center control panel, and started flipping switches and pulling levers with such manic speed that he was sure she would fall flat on her bum. He could not help but stare at the woman.

The room made a loud screeching noise and the woman gave a loud sigh, seeming to indicate that they were out of immediate trouble. Under further inspection in the improved light, he noticed that the woman looked haggard and worried. She had dried tear tracks down her face and her face was white and wet with a cold-looking sweat. Rose looked quite unwell.

Yes, that was her name, _Rose_. And for some reason he could not reason, he loved her.

"Rose?" he asked quietly.

She didn't respond at first. Then, "You had me right worried, you know."

"What did I do?"

"What do you mean, what did you do?" Her voice sounded angry.

"I…I don't know. I don't think I remember." He wanted her to forgive him, even though he didn't know what it was for. He didn't like that she was angry at him. He didn't like that she was angry at all.

"You don't remember _surrendering_ yourself without a fight to the Banlux and leaving me on the TARDIS to fend for _myself_? You told me to hide! Whatever happened to _running_? Did you want one last quick adventure by yourself before you were tied down to the missus and a kid for the rest of your life? Is_ that_ what you wanted? To do something reckless and dangerous one last time, like your own personal bachelor party? And you expected me just to _wait_ for you? Just wait for you to hopefully come back? How could you do that to me? I was terrified! I was terrified of what they would do to you! Come _on_! Explain yourself!"

But before he could open his mouth to explain to her that he really had no idea what she was talking about, but please don't be angry with him, Rose shrieked in pain and grabbed her stomach.

"Oh, Doctor! I'm so sorry about what I said. Please help me. Oh, God! Doctor! It's coming!"

**TBC Reviews appreciated _a lot_! For all of you looking for some good old-fashioned fluff, fret not, it's on its way.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I don't own Doctor Who!**

_Chapter 6: Right Now_

He rushed forward without thinking twice to Rose's side. In an attempt to steady her, he reached out his hand and placed it on her upper arm, guiding her down into a sitting position on the floor.

In that moment, a million things flew into his mind. He was the Doctor from Gallifrey. Gallifrey was gone. He was standing on the TARDIS…Time And Relative Dimension In Space. This woman before him was Rose Tyler. She was twenty-four Earth years old. She was from London, Powell Estates. He met her when he had a different face. She had suffered because of him once before. So had he. But he had found her again. He had searched for years, and he had been so tired, so full of pain, and so lonely.

He remembered how he had felt so complete in seeing her again on Bad Wolf Bay. How her smile made him feel all of the goodness in the Universe. He remembered how her skin felt against his and the warm wetness of her lips, and how his entire body felt like it was on fire just when he was in the same room as her. He remembered making love with her. Then he remembered the frequency at which they made love, and it made him feel happy and warm.

He remembered that he had married Rose Tyler, that she had his forever, and that she was pregnant with his child. The child, it seemed, she was going to deliver right now, three months too early.

The immediate reality of the situation crashed around him and his wife's screams of terror and pain filled his ears again. He had left her to keep her safe, and it seemed that the emotional distress this had caused had sent her into premature labor. Three months was far too soon.

"Rose," he said, staring directly into her eyes. "Rose, I need you to listen to me. I'm going to walk to you the med bay. You need to be strong, okay? Breathe, Rose. Concentrate. We're going to get through this. The three of us."

He hoped that what he said was true.

The Doctor and Rose hobbled to the medical bay where he laid her on a sterile looking examination bed. He flashed the Sonic Screwdriver that Rose had used to rescue him moments before over the length of her body. A blood-curdling scream tore through the air and his breath caught in his throat. He willed himself not to breakdown at the sight of her agony, to keep it together for the sake of Rose and their child.

"The baby's coming, Rose. I can't stop it."

"I know!" she yelled at him.

"We need to be careful. You're only six months. I don't think the baby's ready to come out. You might hemorrhage. We have-" his voice broke, "we have to be prepared for the fact that the baby might not make it. Six months is often too early for a human birth."

She looked at him with terrified eyes, but within the terror was some basic level of comprehension—instinctual, animal understanding that not all children made it. Acceptance, however, that she was going to lose her and the Doctor's baby, was absolutely absent. Rose Tyler was determined beyond every shadow of a doubt that this child was going to _live_.

"Push, Rose. You're ready. I'm here."

He held her right hand and she squeezed it with strength that he wasn't even aware she was capable of, and bore down, concentrating every part of herself on the act of pushing.

"Good, Rose, again." Another enormous contraction flooded over her and she bore down again. She growled in pain.

"You're very close. I can see its head." _It's so tiny_, he thought.

Rose gritted her teeth and her heart fluttered.

"Are you ready? Can you push again?"

She nodded her head and pushed, finally, one last time.

"Keep going! Keep pushing! I almost have-"

He pulled the baby out. She was so tiny, so very, very small. She.

"Doctor? What is it?" asked Rose weakly.

"A girl," he said softly. "A baby girl."

"Stella, then. Yeah?" Her voice was weak.

"Star?" he smiled slightly. "Okay. It's beautiful. She's beautiful."

Rose, unable to keep her eyes open, sank into darkness.

Light crept in slightly around the edges of her vision and she blinked, adjusting her eyes.

She hurt. A lot. Not the stabbing pain she had felt before, but a dull, persistent ache. A slight groan escaped her lips as sensation increased with consciousness.

"Doctor?" she mumbled. The room around her was hazy. She could make out the steady humming of machines and monitors.

"Rose, oh thank goodness you're awake. I was beginning to worry…even though the Sonic seemed to check you out okay."

"Where…what's…how's Stella?" A fresh wave of panic came over her. She remembered the Doctor saying she might not survive. Her mind rejected that option.

"She's very small, but she's doing alright. Her hands…are so little. But she's vital, Rose. I'll be the first to admit that I haven't spent much time with infants, but Rose, Stella is the most _vital _creature I have ever seen. It's only a matter of time. She'll pull through."

Rose's heart soared when he said their child's name. And he called her _vital_. So she was going to be okay. Stella was going to live.

"How?" was all Rose could manage to say.

The Doctor seemed to know what she meant. "I think it's the Time Lord in her. Strong as you are, Rose, you're still human…and I'm not sure if she would have lived if she were completely human."

"Can I hold her?"

"Not yet. I have her hooked up to too many machines. And she's sleeping. You should sleep too. If you're feeling better after that, maybe then you can get up and see her."

"Okay."

The air was full and silent.

"I'm sorry," said the Doctor.

"For what?"

"Leaving you. It was stupid; I didn't think it through. I just wanted you and the baby to be safe, and it seemed like handing myself over was the best option for that. I shouldn't have done it. I see that now."

"It's okay. I was just worried, you know? You've never been one to submit so quickly. I thought something was really wrong. And it was, I guess."

"They took away who I was."

"I know. I saw it in your eyes. It wasn't you in them. I'm sorry I yelled at you. I was scared."

"You were brilliant, you were. I can't believe I have you. Rose Tyler: Defender of Earth, Propagator of the Time Lords, Mother of My Daughter. The last one's my favorite. You know, it's not everyday that I become a real dad. This would be the first time, actually. Who would have guessed that five years ago when I met you in the basement of a shop that when I told you to run, we'd end up here? I probably would have run away screaming. Wasn't a big fan of domestics then. But I like them now, especially with you. Everything's better with you. And now Stella. She's just like you. I think she may have smirked at me already."

She smiled. She was very tired still, and struggled to keep her eyes open.

"I love you, Rose. Sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."

Sighing, she mumbled something that sounded curiously like "I love you too," and she fell back into sleep.

**A/N: Thanks for reading, as usual. I'm thinking one or two more chapters. Please review! I'll love you forever. :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**I don't own Doctor Who**

_Chapter 7: Three months later_

The Doctor stretched his arms and legs out on the bed, groping for Rose so that he might pull her in tighter as he continued to sleep. To his dismay, however, he found the bed to be empty, and he panicked briefly before hearing a quiet cooing sound from the corner of the room.

He sat up groggily in the bed, pushing his arms as to prop himself up, and found Rose sitting in a rocking chair in the corner of the room, a restless bundle of baby kicking about as it finished its four-in-the-morning meal time.

The Doctor smiled at his wife who was trying without success to hush the small baby, and she sighed in exasperation.

"Stella, sweetheart, you'll wake up daddy," she whispered.

"She already has," he said, pushing himself off of the bed. The Doctor's hearts felt like they were going to explode every time he saw the two of them together. When he slept at night, which was much more often now, because Stella seemed to demand much more of his brain space and time than he originally thought was possible, he attempted to tackle the endless puzzle as to how he had suddenly, within the last few years, had become so unimaginably lucky. Every night, he failed to solve the puzzle, falling asleep as Rose's warm breath blew over his face as she slept.

Rose had regained her strength with impressive speed after the birth of Stella and had taken to motherhood with amazing finesse. Whenever the Doctor held his daughter, which was whenever Rose wasn't holding her, he gaped in general befuddlement as to how _he_ had a _daughter_. He, the Doctor, The Oncoming Storm, became mush whenever he even looked at Stella. He could not understand how a man like himself who had wrought so much destruction over the Universe, who had sacrificed not only his own happiness, but the happiness of others, could be allowed to be a dad.

"How did this happen?" The Doctor said, genuinely running out of explanations as to how he became the man he was now.

"How did what happen?" Rose was hovering over Stella as she laughed and spit all over herself after she had fed her.

"How do I get you? How am I allowed to have Stella?"

"You need to stop thinking you're undeserving," Rose said, looking up at him, her smile for Stella fading as she regarded him with seriousness. "If anyone deserves this life, it's you. We've been over this. You deserve this because you love me and you love Stella. That's all you need to be deserving. Now please come over here and take your daughter, she's acting like you and she won't sit still."

He came over and scooped Stella into his arms and he pecked Rose on the cheek, making sure the peck was lingering enough to imply that later, when neither of them was holding Stella, they would pursue another, more intense kind of kissing.

Stella, though well, was still a small baby, but her hearts pumped with furious vigor and her cheeks flushed with pleasure as her father held her in his arms. She had his wild, untamable, and amazing hair. She had Rose's brown and hazel eyes, and probably her lips too, by the way they bowed delicately.

"You're as beautiful as your mum, you are." He kissed her lightly on the forehead and she yawned loudly. The Doctor was full and happy. He felt a level of completion that he didn't know it was possible to feel. Saving the universe a hundred times over wouldn't give him the same satisfaction as his current life. He was a man surrounded by amazing women: the TARDIS, for one, and Stella, and his beautiful Rose.

Rose slipped back onto the bed and nuzzled her head into the Doctor's shoulder.

"Sometimes this feels completely surreal," she said.

"I know what you mean. But I'm not complaining. In fact, I'm the opposite of complaining."

"Me too. Five years ago we were popping around the universe and saving aliens and planets and causing trouble and being so _cheeky_. And now we're _parents_. I don't know what shocks me more, that you're a parent, that I'm a parent, or that we made Stella together. Nineteen year old me would have laughed in my face."

"I think we'll be up and around causing trouble in no time. And I'll have you know that _I'm_ still perfectly cheeky, Mrs. Tyler, thank you very much. You know, I think we did a pretty good job with old Stella, here. You and I make quite I team."

"So I've heard tell. I'd have to agree. Ah, she's asleep. Excellent. Go put her back to bed?" She raised her eyebrows at him. "I promise good things await you at your return."

He looked at her with a deep intensity that opposed his previously light tone.

Upon his return, arms empty of Stella, he did not find Rose lying on the bed where he left her.

"Rose?" he asked to empty air. He walked over to their bed and laid down on his back, propping his head up with his hands.

He saw out of the corner of his eye a door being pushed open. Rose's head peeped around the door of the bathroom and she gave him a genuine megawatt smile as she rounded its corner and revealed the rest of her body.

Rose wasn't really one to don scanty, lacy lingerie, and the Doctor really preferred it that way. Meeting halfway between sexy and practical, Rose wore a satin nighty in banana yellow. The faintly shiny fabric matched her hair, which trailed over her shoulders. Her skin looked even pinker and lovelier.

And her breasts. Oh, her breasts. The Doctor knew, from his medical knowledge only, of course, that pregnancy and motherhood could do some amazing things to the female body, but this, _this_ he thought should be considered criminal she looked so…luscious was the only word he could think of, for which he silently admonished himself.

"Do you like it?" she asked coyly, posing slightly for his benefit.

He responded only with a low growl and she turned flush pink with her success. She was still amazed that she had the ability to reduce a Time Lord, let alone this Time Lord, a man who almost literally could not keep his gob shut, to nothing more than a primal grunt. He had once told her that she was special, he still told her that she was special, but she often failed to understand what he found so special about her. She might be a little bit above average when it came to looks, but, hell, she was hardly Cindy Crawford.

"What, you don't believe me?" the Doctor asked, derailing Rose's car on the Insecurity Express.

"I do! Really. I know you think I'm beautiful and all that. And you make me feel beautiful…but…"

"But what?"

"But I just wonder, you know…" she trailed off. "You're over 900 years old, right?"

"Yes…" He wasn't sure he liked where this was going.

"I just would have thought…I dunno, that you've probably met a fair few other young blonde girls over those years. And who's to say one of them couldn't have made you just as happy as I do?"

"It's true. I've met a lot of blonde girls."

Rose deflated slightly.

"But I've never been a blonde girl who's given me so much cheek, who's demanded that I be better, or who's been willing to sacrifice so much of her own happiness for me. Not that I demand the sacrifice…it's just, no one's ever wanted to do that before. As much as I've had other friends before—blonde or not—they've had their lives and I've had mine. They only wanted to share as much of themselves as they felt they could spare, and nothing more. You were different. You gave me all of you, even when I was stubborn and thought I didn't need it. I did need it. I needed it the whole time. My whole life. Even now."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"I see. Well, then, you know what you'd better do, then?" Her face was serious, full of business.

"What?"

"You'd better kiss me. Right now."

Without another word, the Doctor pushed himself forward to meet her at the foot of the bed, where she had been sitting. Their faces hovered inches away from each other, their breath mingling between them. His fingers grazed her cheek bone and she felt the trail of fire they left in their wake burn so gently it almost made her purr.

She smiled, closing her eyes, inhaling the scent of their excitement. His nose nuzzled her own and their lips met, first gently, almost gingerly. But she leaned forward, grabbing his head with her fingers wrapped in his hair and she pulled him closer. His fingers explored her back, sliding lower and lower until they reached her bum, when he swiftly maneuvered her so she was sitting on his lap, her legs wrapped around his waist.

"Rose, you _are_ beautiful. There could never be anyone else who could affect me the way you do…" he went down for another bout of kissing. "…who could love me the way you do…even if I lived a million of these lifetimes."

The fury of her kissing increased as if she was trying to claim every last inch of him, her kisses trailing from his lips down his neck and across his bare chest. She slid her hands up the sides of his torso and he shivered from the much desired contact.

Rose was falling to pieces, in the best sense, as she released all the love she ever felt.

"Doctor," she moaned. "Doctor, I need you. I need you _now_."

The Doctor growled again, his desire getting the best of him and overtaking him as quickly as it was Rose.

"And you can have every piece of me. Forever."

END

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I'm not going to write anymore sequels for this story. I think it ends well here. It's safe to assume that Rose and the Doctor (and Stella) receive their much deserved happy ending. I'll still write other stories, though, just not any for this particular story. Please review! **


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